Name of Organisation

Discovery – Student Volunteering Swansea

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

The organisation was first awarded the IIV back in 2007. That award drew to a close in 2010 and we were keen to maintain our IIV status so chose to reapply.

How did you set about working towards the standard?

We initially met with Leah Doherty, our IIV Advisor to discuss the new shape of the assessment and the changes to the process since applying in 2007. This was incredibly helpful and meant we were well prepared to start the assessment of our activities.

The next step was to revisit our assessment from 2007. Various processes, including nearly all staff, had changed since the first Award, so we were able to amend and add to the existing documents. These provided an excellent base for reapplying as it gave us a solid foundation to build upon.

What has been your experience of the Investing in Volunteers process?

Our experience of applying for the IIV award has been extremely smooth, with good levels of communication at all times. The advisor and assessors were very helpful and the guidance given was extremely useful.

The most challenging part of the application process was arranging the Volunteer interviews. As we have so many volunteers working with us, the amount of people who needed to be interviewed was relatively high. We worked very hard to ensure the interviewed volunteers reflected the demographic split of our database and that all these people turned up at the right time on the same day. But we were very proud of our volunteer’s dedication when all but 2 of our 30 interviewees turned up.

Practical tips you would give another organisation working towards Investing in Volunteers

·Keep the approved Assessment forms in a safe place. If you ever want to reapply they will do half the work for you.

·Keep any evidence you quote for the assessment together (digitally for preference), even if you have them saved elsewhere. Although you may not be asked to show every piece, you will be able to access what you are asked for immediately.